Super Amputee Cat
Cyburbian
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Here is a little synopsis I wrote about a small Michigan town that, due to its leaders' shortsightness and misconceptions of what is "historic", today bares little resemblance to it's former self when it was a genuine self-sustaining town. As the pictures below will show, it seems to be following a disturbing trend of "Phony-colonializing" its downtown and the inevitable resulting distorted view on what is "old fashioned" that somehow appeal to the masses.
Main Street, Gaylord, ca 1905. In this turn-of-the-century view, one can clearly discern that Gaylord contains all the traditional elements of a Classic turn-of-the-century Midwestern town: Handsome two-story brick Italianate style and Vernacular buildings - many with decorative cornices, brackets and other
embellishments - line Main Street. Numerous awnings invite window shopping and respite from the elements. The roads were unpaved during this era as the automobile had not yet entered mainstream society and many still used horses and buggy, yet the number of buildings attests that the town is thriving.
Flash ahead to the 1940s. The roads have been improved and the automobile has
made its presence well known for some time now, but angle parking still invites
convenient downtown shopping and business dealings, with a variety of stores
providing goods and services to local residents as well as tourists. Although missing
the awnings that were so predominant at the turn-of-the-century, most of the
buildings appear otherwise intact and looking very much as they did 40 years earlier.
Gaylord ca 1960. Historic buildings remain relatively unaltered. Downtown still appears quite viable as attested by numerous cars parked in angled parking spots and signage for local businesses such as a drug store and bank. But it wouldn’t be long before a downtown "revitalization" plan would change Gaylord forever.
During the 1960s, City leaders opted to adapt a “Alpine Village” theme in hopes of
boosting tourist traffic. Facades of many buildings were heavily altered to emulate
buildings that are typical of homes found in Germany or Switzerland. Original
storefronts and windows were replaced with new windows of glaringly out-of-scale
dimensions. Original brick and clapboard was covered up by modern materials
including plaster, rubblestone, and half-timbering. Inappropriate architectural items,
such as turrets, pediments, pent roofs, and phony thatched roofs, were introduced.
A new parallel parking theme makes it more difficult to maneuver cars and allows less
cars to be parked per block.
By the 1990s, it was clear that the historic and architectural integrity of Gaylord had
been totally compromised. Almost every single building had adopted the faux-Swiss
Alpine façade and it appears that new one-story buildings, with that same copycat
faux-Swiss theme, have been constructed. One or two old buildings appear to have
been demolished.
This new Swiss theme does little more than give the town an overall cartoonish or
tacky appearance. To compound the problem, many of the 1960s alterations, being
of inferior quality and construction have not worn well in the harsh Northern Michigan
climate. In fact, some these elements have already been replaced by even more
modern and gnashing elements.
The commercial tenants have changed over the years as well. Grocery stores,
saloons, 5 & 10s, hardware and dry goods stores have given way to an almost totally
tourist based service economy. Downtown Gaylord no longer provides viable locally
made goods and services to the market. Main Street now exists primarily to cater to
the tourist trade. Gift shops and craft stores, selling token merchandise, abound
where hardware stores and grocery stores once existed. Perhaps worst of all, basic
staples that were once available downtown, now require travel to the outlying strip
shopping centers and other automobile centered developments.

Main Street, Gaylord, ca 1905. In this turn-of-the-century view, one can clearly discern that Gaylord contains all the traditional elements of a Classic turn-of-the-century Midwestern town: Handsome two-story brick Italianate style and Vernacular buildings - many with decorative cornices, brackets and other
embellishments - line Main Street. Numerous awnings invite window shopping and respite from the elements. The roads were unpaved during this era as the automobile had not yet entered mainstream society and many still used horses and buggy, yet the number of buildings attests that the town is thriving.

Flash ahead to the 1940s. The roads have been improved and the automobile has
made its presence well known for some time now, but angle parking still invites
convenient downtown shopping and business dealings, with a variety of stores
providing goods and services to local residents as well as tourists. Although missing
the awnings that were so predominant at the turn-of-the-century, most of the
buildings appear otherwise intact and looking very much as they did 40 years earlier.

Gaylord ca 1960. Historic buildings remain relatively unaltered. Downtown still appears quite viable as attested by numerous cars parked in angled parking spots and signage for local businesses such as a drug store and bank. But it wouldn’t be long before a downtown "revitalization" plan would change Gaylord forever.

During the 1960s, City leaders opted to adapt a “Alpine Village” theme in hopes of
boosting tourist traffic. Facades of many buildings were heavily altered to emulate
buildings that are typical of homes found in Germany or Switzerland. Original
storefronts and windows were replaced with new windows of glaringly out-of-scale
dimensions. Original brick and clapboard was covered up by modern materials
including plaster, rubblestone, and half-timbering. Inappropriate architectural items,
such as turrets, pediments, pent roofs, and phony thatched roofs, were introduced.
A new parallel parking theme makes it more difficult to maneuver cars and allows less
cars to be parked per block.

By the 1990s, it was clear that the historic and architectural integrity of Gaylord had
been totally compromised. Almost every single building had adopted the faux-Swiss
Alpine façade and it appears that new one-story buildings, with that same copycat
faux-Swiss theme, have been constructed. One or two old buildings appear to have
been demolished.
This new Swiss theme does little more than give the town an overall cartoonish or
tacky appearance. To compound the problem, many of the 1960s alterations, being
of inferior quality and construction have not worn well in the harsh Northern Michigan
climate. In fact, some these elements have already been replaced by even more
modern and gnashing elements.
The commercial tenants have changed over the years as well. Grocery stores,
saloons, 5 & 10s, hardware and dry goods stores have given way to an almost totally
tourist based service economy. Downtown Gaylord no longer provides viable locally
made goods and services to the market. Main Street now exists primarily to cater to
the tourist trade. Gift shops and craft stores, selling token merchandise, abound
where hardware stores and grocery stores once existed. Perhaps worst of all, basic
staples that were once available downtown, now require travel to the outlying strip
shopping centers and other automobile centered developments.